[Welcome again to Video Game Crafts ‘N Gear! This is a weekly feature wherein I shine the spotlight on three of the best custom-made, video game-inspired projects I’ve come across this week. Whatever the game and whether it’s art, crafts, toys, cosplay, animations or anything creative, if it’s awesome enough I’ll share with you wonderful readers!]

Canned Duck Hunt Dog

Long-term Crafts ‘N Gear followers might just recall the retro Mario sculpture made entirely out of canned food. This week, we have something that not only continues that trend, but blows even that excellent Mario sculpture out of the water. Here’s the iconic Duck Hunt dog made entirely out of canned goods, on display as part of the CANstruction exhibit in San Francisco.

The exhibit raises canned foods and money to donate to local food banks. Over 30,000 cans were used for all of the displays, with the theme this year being ‘From CANdyland to WoW’ (games). You can also check out a sweet Donkey Kong display below too. It doesn’t stop at video games, though–hit the link above and you’ll find Skeeball machines, Hungry Hungry Hippos, a roulette wheel and more.

Highly skilled minimalist artist Ian Wilding‘s latest piece is just the sort of brilliance you would expect, if you’ve ever seen the man’s work before. His recent poster sees a menacing Dr. Robotnik, with his intimidating glare accentuated by the harsh red background. Though on closer inspection, it seems that the old doctor has a little something in his eye.

In fact, hit up the image in full size and you’ll see that arch nemesis Sonic the Hedgehog is actually in the picture. Regardless, you should view the full resolution anyway, because the image holds a surprising amount of detail in those moustache bristles and head goggles. Plus, this is clearly top-notch wallpaper material.

What you’re about to witness is the genius of over a dozen artists from a Mario forum. The team have been collaborating since 2006, creating these unbelievable isometric Mario worlds. These worlds are based on Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Island and Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga. There is also a mash-up of different games, mixing the Mario series with other great franchises–and even a mix of Mario fan games.

There is quite a lot of interesting history behind these works, which you can check out over at the Mario Fan Games Galaxy Wiki. Reading about all the issues, co-ordination and creativity regarding the art just adds to the appreciation of what are already incredible and highly admirable pieces. Can’t wait for Collab #7!

An aspiring writer from England. Reece was born with a controller in his hands. From the age of 4 he had his filthy mitts on a Game Boy, PSOne and Sega Mega Drive (Genesis to you Americans!),. Open to any system and genre, he remains completely unbiased as a proud owner of a Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3 and 3DS.